They Walked Among Us: Sally Rand and her WWII Rodeo
“Here comes
Junction City’s Gigantic Rodeo” The Junction City Union proclaimed on June 24
1942. To be held on June 27th and June 28th in Rathert
Stadium, the event would feature 150
rodeo stars including: John Lindsey, famous rodeo clown; Hoyt Heffner,
professional bull fighter; Buff Brady, champion trick rider and roper whose
exploits could be seen in films; Earl and Valdene Strauss, Hollywood stunt
riders; and Alice and Margaret Greenough, sisters of Pvt. Turk Greenough and
champion bronc riders. And the headliner? Sally Rand, “one of the nation’s
top-ranking celebrities” and wife of arena director Turk Greenough.
Sally
Rand had gained fame as a burlesque dancer, known for her alluring fan dance. Her presence in Junction City was met with
more than a bit of excitement. She arrived by train at 4:30 in the morning with
her Pekingese dog “Quannie” and stayed at the Bartell Hotel. She was offered a
private residence, but preferred the downtown location as it would make
planning and handling all rodeo details easier. Prior to the start of the
event, Sally Rand spent many days traveling on a rodeo caravan to towns and
cities within a 75-mile radius of Junction City to promote the event. While
staying in town, Sally was presented with a
“key to the city” at a Junior Chamber of Commerce dinner; she also
received a badge and the title of honorary Geary County Sheriff.
The
question might be asked, why was Junction City chosen for such a large,
nationally advertised rodeo event? The
answer lies in Sally Rand’s personal life.
In 1941, at the start of World War II, she married Turk Greenough. Up until the start of the war, Turk Greenough
traveled the country as a national champion bronco rider performing in places
like Madison Square Gardens. He achieved
the title of champion bronco buster of the world six times. During his World
War II enlistment, Pvt. Turk Greenough trained at the Cavalry Replacement
Training Center at Fort Riley. And it was through him, Sally and some of their
friends from the rodeo circuit, that the “gigantic rodeo” was put together. It
was reported in the papers on June 5, 1942 that “The famous fan dancer and her
cowboy husband [were] collaborating with Junction City business men in
providing the financial backing for the rodeo, being staged for the benefit of
the Army Emergency Relief Fund at Fort Riley.”
The army had
several featured spots in each show, as some of the nation’s finest horsemen
and horses from the Fort Riley Cavalry show performed jumping exhibitions.
There were also demonstrations of a cavalry bivouac and the public was able to
inspect the equipment before and after each show.
14,000
people were estimated to have attended the two day event, with the peak crowd
reaching 5,000 people on Sunday
afternoon. This peak crowd was reached despite a torrential downpour which
turned the grounds around Rathert Field into a sea of mud. At 75 cents for
general admission and $1 for grandstand seats, this rodeo raised quite a bit to
help the Army Relief Fund and, the rodeo was declared a success.
The
Geary County Historical Society is gearing up for our “Year of the Soldier”
celebration in 2017. It may seem like a long way away, but we have started
researching and planning for our exhibits and programs for next year. If you
have any stories about your time in the army, or your time as a supporting
family member of a soldier, stop into the museum. We would love to hear
stories, see pictures and talk to you about loaning objects for this exciting
event. Call Heather at the museum with any questions 785-238-1666.
For
a more immediate event: the museum’s Spring Valley Historic Site will be open
Saturday June 25th from 10-1pm. Stop by the site to explore the
historic buildings, and to see demonstrations of spinning, weaving and other
pioneer handcrafts.